Low self-esteem almost always stems from trauma. Sometimes that trauma is obvious and unmistakable. Abuse. Assault. Bullying. Accidents. Violence. Racism. Homophobia. Transphobia. Growing up in unsafe or unpredictable environments. And sometimes it’s quieter. So quiet it often gets dismissed or minimised. And sometimes it’s quieter. So quiet it often gets dismissed or minimised. Being compared unfavourably to siblings.

Therapy should be a space of safety, validation, and growth, especially for LGBTQ+ people. Yet, many LGBTQ+ clients still find themselves in rooms where their identities are misunderstood or pathologised. To support queer people effectively, we must radically rethink psychotherapy. Decolonising psychotherapy isn’t just about using the right words—it’s about shifting how we view gender, sexuality, shame, safety, and healing.

Darly and Pat talk about their experience of raising 3 Queer kids in Sydney Australia. Exploring some of the challenges and tips that helped them.

Lukasz speaks about being Queer and sober, a movement we are seeing across the LGBTQ+ community where people, but especially young people are choosing to be sober and social and party sober.

Bisexuality is often misunderstood through rigid ideas of behaviour, attraction, and legitimacy. This blog explores how narrow cultural and Queer frameworks limit our understanding of bisexual identity, forcing people into boxes that don’t reflect lived experience. It challenges myths around “choice,” consistency, and performance, and invites a more expansive, compassionate way of understanding bisexuality beyond binaries and expectations.

Dating apps like Grindr are often framed as tools for connection, but they can also amplify harm, especially for Queer people navigating shame, racism, body hierarchies, rejection, and trauma. This blog uses the metaphor of cigarette warning labels to critically examine how app culture impacts mental health, self-worth, and intimacy. It questions what responsibility platforms hold, and how users can engage more consciously and safely.

Decolonising psychotherapy is about more than inclusion. It’s about transformation. It asks us to remake therapy into something rooted in justice, solidarity, and liberation. Trans people deserve more than tolerance. They deserve therapy that honours their complexity, recognises their struggle, and affirms their right to exist fully and freely. Let’s build that therapy together.

Misdiagnoses: Black individuals are disproportionately diagnosed with schizophrenia compared to mood disorders, even when presenting with similar symptoms to white patients. This may stem from implicit bias, where clinicians misinterpret expressions of anger or distrust (often a reasonable response to systemic racism) as psychotic symptoms. Research has shown significant disparities in these diagnoses, highlighting the impact of bias.  

Assuming that forced migrants are now safe in the West is a harmful myth. While it may be relatively safer than the conditions they fled, forced migrants continue to face significant threats. Racism, xenophobia, and anti-migrant sentiments are pervasive, as highlighted by the racist and Islamophobic riots across the UK in the summer of 2024, culminating in the tragic arson attack on a hotel housing migrants.

Stigma often leads therapists to view sex work as inherently harmful, framing it as the source of a client’s distress rather than examining the systemic and societal issues at play. Decolonising psychotherapy involves affirming sex workers’ agency and dismantling biases, recognising that their challenges are often rooted in the environments and systems they navigate, not the work itself.

Therapy often reinforces heteronormative and mononormative ideals, positioning heterosexual, monogamous relationships as the default or superior model. This perspective marginalises individuals in consensual non-monogamous relationships, such as open or polyamorous partnerships, as well as communities like the LGBTQIA+ community and some religious communities.

Decolonising psychotherapy means moving beyond Eurocentric, individual-focused models to include diverse cultural practices like collective healing. Many BIPOC communities process trauma through shared experiences and mutual support, which resonate deeply with their lived realities.

Being closeted is often framed as a temporary stage before coming out, but for many Queer people it is a long-term reality shaped by fear, safety, culture, and survival. This blog explores the psychological and emotional impact of hiding parts of yourself, including shame, anxiety, hypervigilance, and disconnection. It challenges the assumption that coming out is always the solution and centres compassion, choice, and self-protection.

How are we to understand that in our modern world, at the pinnacle of medical ingenuity and sophistication, we are seeing more and more chronic physical disease? This sentence comes from the first pages of the book The Myth of Normal (2022), and they pose an excellent question. How is this possible? The book covers various angles when it comes to our ailing society and how we got here, but I want to focus on just one angle: the mind-body connection. Or I should say disconnect

Finding the right therapist can be transformative for LGBTQ+ people navigating identity, trauma, and mental health. This blog explores the power of therapist matching, highlighting how shared understanding, cultural awareness, and Queer-affirming practice can create safer, more effective therapeutic relationships. It challenges one-size-fits-all therapy models and shows how feeling seen, understood, and respected can support authenticity, healing, and long-term wellbeing.